Whatever It Takes
by charmed kitty
Summary: An AU Teen Charmed fic. Patty and Penny are gone, Prue is trying to keep the family together, Piper is dealing with school, Phoebe is an elite gymnast
1. Afternoon Rush

Whatever It Takes

This is sorta A/U-ish… Grams and Patty are dead leaving Prue in charge of Piper and Phoebe… Phoebe is an Elite level gymnast in training for the Olympics(which would happen the year after this takes place…) another note… this takes place before that crappy age rule got changed so the age limit is still at 15 in the Olympic year… this is taking place around December so Olympic trials are still about 6/7 months away. Another note, anyone who you don't recognize is mine… the characterizations of teen Prue, Piper and Phoebe are my own creations, but the original concept of the three sisters aren't owned by me.

Prue – 19

Piper – 17

Phoebe – 14

Two voices echoed through the manor, and into the neighborhood in a shouting match between two girls. It had become quite the norm lately much to the dismay of the residents of the San Francisco street that was aligned by large Victorian masterpieces. The only other person suffering from the constant bickering was the middle sister in this family of three. Piper Halliwell knew that the only way to get her sisters to stop fighting with each other was for them to be in separate places, but had no idea how to accomplish that without somehow getting dragged into the middle of the mess herself. For once, however, she was not at home when the fight broke out and wouldn't have to worry about it until later when one of her sisters complained about the other. It was 3pm and Phoebe had gymnastics training to get to. She was on a tight schedule, which made Prue's tighter schedule seem even harder to keep in tact. Prue was in her first year of college at SFSU, and held down a part time job at a local bookstore. Piper was a senior in high school, and Phoebe, in the midst of training as an Elite Gymnast was a freshman taking classes for only three hours a day and being taught at home by Prue and Piper, that is… when they had time.

"Phoebe! Get down here now, c'mon! You're going to be late! I'm not paying for you to be late! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Prue shouted up the stairs. Although she was still a teenager herself, it felt like ever since Grams died, she'd grown up by 10 years at least. It didn't occur to her when she shouted it that her sister would have an easy comeback, "Stop being a stupid teenager and let's go!"

"You're a stupid teenager too Prudence!" Phoebe shouted down from her room. She had to find her new grips or she would be forced to buy a new pair and Prue certainly wouldn't hear of that; but no grips meant bad rips. As soon as she found them Phoebe stuffed them into the gym bag, flung open and slammed her door then raced down the stairs where she knew she'd find Prue fuming. "What? You're the one who wanted to go, go, go!"

Prue shot her left arm straight out, pointing at the front door. Her head was down so Phoebe couldn't see the anger in her eyes, but she knew that when Piper got the car from Prue after Prue dropped Phoebe off at gym, she was going to get an earful. A hop, skip and seatbelt later, they were on their way to the small gym that Phoebe had been training at since she was 7. Before Prue had the car fully stopped, Phoebe popped the door open and took off her seatbelt. The goal was to get out of the car as quickly and painlessly as possible; without a lecture if she had any luck. As luck would have it, Prue jammed on the brakes and Phoebe was flung onto the curb. That had been her punishment for being late and opening the door while they were still in motion. Looking down at her little sister, who she knew hadn't been hurt she simply said, "Don't do that. And be outside at 8 when Piper gets here."

"Yah whatever Prue." She mumbled sarcastically in only the way a 14 year old could. Walking into the gym felt like going home to Phoebe. She'd been through a lot of rough times in her life, especially in the recent months and gymnastics had always been there as the glue holding her life together. It was something she understood and could control, unlike the rest of her young life that seemed to be spiraling out of control. She quickly went to her locker and changed into one of her favorite leo's. It was white with little shimmering stars all over it that were made up primarily of red and blue sparkles. She always felt patriotic when she wore it.

While Phoebe began warming up and conditioning her body, Prue drove to the high school where she had to pick Piper up. It was an almost complex system. At 2pm Prue took off from her last class and picked Phoebe up, took her home and then to the gym. She then raced back to the school where Piper would be waiting to be picked up. The girls would switch places and Piper would drive Prue to work while she went home to do homework and study. On occasion she'd watch Phoebe at gymnastics or go out on a date, but typically there was not time for such things. At 8pm sharp Piper would pick Phoebe up from gym and then drive to the bookstore where Prue would be finishing up work at 8:30pm and the three would go home together. At times Prue wondered how Grams ever kept up with their schedule, not to mention paid for it.

"Hey Prue," Piper said calmly as she got into the driver's side of the car. She had been a little bit late so Prue had already switched sides. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the fiery anger burning in Prue's eyes, she knew something must have happened with Phoebe. "Aw Prue, what happened this time?"

"She's so completely irresponsible Piper! It's like she has no idea that anyone exists in the world besides herself! She's just such a… such a…" Prue growled unable to finish the sentence.

"Such a… 14 year old? Prue, you know we were just like her when we were young. Give her a break, and maybe she'll get better." Piper knew that wasn't a really realistic possibility, but she thought she'd throw it in the ring just incase Prue was in a hopeful mood. She knew it was doubtful, but they were nearly to the bookstore so Prue was too busy getting things ready to come up with a witty comeback. Piper slowly pulled away from the curb. She had a lot of homework she needed to get done, but she knew that it would wait. She wanted to see Mark and that was much more important then stupid Political Science homework. As soon as it was time to go pick up Phoebe, she knew they'd have to split, and she'd be racing to the gym, but all that really mattered was seeing him.

"All right Phoebe lets keep those toes pointed! Point! Point! Point!" her coach called out to her. She was performing on the uneven bars, her worst event. She'd worked her compulsory routines in the morning session and was now working her optional routine. For some reason she always seemed to get sloppy when it came to pointing her toes on her giant swings. Phoebe dismounted the bars with a scowl on her face. She didn't feel like doing bars anymore, but knew she had to if she had any chance of making it anywhere near an Olympic Team. After chalking up, she remounted and did a full routine. As soon as it was 8 o'clock Phoebe raced outside, she didn't want to be late for Piper picking her up, and she knew that Piper was almost always a few minutes early.

As soon as the three sisters' got settled in the car for the ride home, Phoebe who had moved to the back of the Jeep was asleep. Prue glanced back and mumbled to Piper, "She'd better get up and do her homework when we're home. She's been slacking lately."

Piper the ever concerned middle sister knew that Phoebe had worked hard during the day, and needed her rest. She wasn't about to argue with Prue and knew that Phoebe had been slacking off lately. While it was important that she follow her dream, she had to know that an education came first. Piper knew it was hard to explain that to a 14 year old, especially one who had spent most of her day pounding through routines in the gym, but she hoped it would at least sound better coming from her. "Let me tell her Prue, okay? You've had a hard day too and you don't need that kind of stress right now."

Prue agreed so as soon as they got home Phoebe was woken up and dragged half asleep into the manor. It was very dark out, and there was a storm coming. Prue hoped that this would mean rain. California never seemed to get enough rain, so while everyone from the mountain states to the East Coast was complaining about snow, they would be left to worry if there would be a drought come summer. As soon as Piper had assured her that Phoebe was doing her studies, Prue felt like she could finally relax and do something fun for a change. Putting her feet up on the coffee table and grabbing the remote from next to them was a stretch. It always amazed her that her baby sister could be so flexible when she felt like she was pulling a muscle just reaching her toes. There had to be a reason for it, and she wondered if she'd ever find out as she flipped on the TV. 'Cheers' was just beginning and she was glad she hadn't missed it. It had been one of her favorite shows for awhile, and while she didn't get to watch it all the time, it still made for some great TV.

After a few minutes Piper saw her older sister Prue snoring on the couch. She always wondered if Prue and Phoebe's tendencies to snore while sitting up on the couch meant that she did it too. Looking back into the kitchen she saw Phoebe with her face flat down on her math book, the pencil gingerly balancing between her fingers. She saw the small girl snoring lightly and her eyes were shut. The girl wasn't dreaming yet, but Piper couldn't help wonder what she would dream about. While Prue would no doubt be upset with Phoebe for not finishing her homework, Piper couldn't help her heart melting as she looked at the poor exhausted creature. Piper was so amazed at her sisters' ability to stay energized throughout the day, that when Phoebe fell asleep she was very hesitant to wake her. She knew that it was well deserved rest. Shaking Phoebes shoulder lightly, she watched as Phoebe made her way up the stairs, halfway in a dream. Piper sighed and closed up her text book and put it in her backpack for the next morning. Prue was a little bit more difficult to get into bed, so Piper sat down next to her and watched some TV while she thought about what to do. As she started to doze off, her mind wandered to the abstract. She began having train-of-thought dozes and suddenly was sitting upright, panic covering her face. She hadn't done her homework yet!

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot! Why did I wait this long?" Piper mumbled to herself as she pulled out the book they were reading for class. It was about the countries political system and Piper knew that if she didn't force herself to stay awake she'd be in big trouble. An hour later Piper had finished the assigned reading and begun to do the short essay questions in the back of the book. It was 2am before she was finished and by then Prue had woken up again; the buzzing of the television didn't make for comfortable sleeping conditions. The two older sisters trudged up the stairs slowly, arm in arm. It would be another long day and they wouldn't get much sleep.

Unbeknownst to her older sisters, Phoebe lay awake in her bed. She knew she needed her sleep but couldn't turn her brain off. It felt like everything was happening all at once and Phoebe was panicking. She wondered if she really was good enough to make the Olympic Team for the United States and didn't know what she'd do if she didn't find herself in Barcelona a few months from the present. More then herself, Phoebe knew she was representing her family's time and effort, not to mention their money. It was a lot of pressure for such a young girl, but Phoebe knew it had to be worth it in the end. Closing her eyes tightly, Phoebe wondered how she'd feel in the morning, probably tired. There were no excuses in gymnastics and she knew she had to sleep. Trying to turn her inner monologue off made it that much louder and more present. Phoebe finally gave up and walked downstairs to the cold empty kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and stared inside. Phoebe knew she wasn't allowed to snack, she couldn't afford to gain weight, so after a short period of thought she closed the door and walked back upstairs to her room. A half hour later Phoebe was asleep dreaming through her gymnastics routines, something that would eventually catch up with her.


	2. Storm's Brewing

Authors Note: I mention gymnastics skills in my fic, if you don't know what I'm talking about (they're not exactly integral to the story),leave that as a note in your review and I'll get back to you with a definition

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Prue dragged herself out of bed when her alarm went off at 6:00am. She was always the first one up in the house; she had to be or else nothing would get done. After checking her bedside calendar Prue moaned. It was Friday, just what she needed. On Fridays it felt like everything was ten times more hectic, the one bug they'd failed to work out in their daily schedule. Phoebe would need to be up and ready to go by 6am so that Prue could drop her off at the gym by 7:30. From there Prue would race to work and pray for easy traffic while Piper would hop the bus to school or get a ride from friends. Prue had no Friday classes which also meant her only break during the day came at 11:30 for lunch. Unfortunately Phoebe wasn't old enough to drive so Prue had to pick Phoebe up from gym and drop her off at school, leaving the car in the school parking lot so that Piper could take her back to gym when school ended. Prue caught the city bus back to work and was lucky if she had time to gobble down her lunch before getting back to the bookstore which always seemed to be crowded on Fridays. Everyone always wanted to buy their books at the end of the week, and there were a lot of college kids who came in stressed out and agitated when they needed to buy materials for classes that they'd delayed doing for most of the week. By the time everyone got home it was a wonder they were still on speaking terms. The only good thing Prue could think of was that Phoebe would be at the gym almost all day on Saturdays and she could look forward to a more relaxed work schedule with her day off coming Sunday.

Prue was shocked to find the bathroom door locked and shower running. Had her little sister really gotten up on time for once? Smiling to herself she made her way down the old stairs and started a pot of coffee. It was her 'brain juice', as she called it. She just couldn't function without it anymore and lately she'd noticed Piper pouring herself a rather large mug of the black stuff. Prue fumbled around with her eyes half closed as she prepared breakfast. She wasn't much of a cook, but Phoebe needed to eat before gymn and Prue knew she wouldn't be getting much for lunch. A few minutes later Piper made her way downstairs with a grumpy frown on her face. She obviously hadn't slept well and it showed plainly on her smooshed face and frazzled hairdo.

"Why does she take such long showers?" Piper whined. "She's just gonna get stinky again at gymnastics. Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose?"

Prue handed her a fresh cup of coffee and a bowl of fruit with a nice hot piece of toast. "Here, eat, enjoy."

Smelling the strong coffee made Piper smile, "Mmm, rat poison." She loved coffee but the stuff Prue made was always so strong she usually couldn't get through a full cup without dumping a pint of milk in. It was helpful for nights where she only got 4 hours of sleep though. On the bright side, Mark would be driving her to school so they'd have a little time to drive around the city while they were in "traffic" before they actually had to go to class.

Prue glanced up at the ceiling as soon as she heard the water go off. Sneaking a peak at Piper who was doing the same thing she set down her coffee mug and shouted, "MINE!" before hurdling towards the stairs. Piper always seemed to lose those shower races, but usually it didn't matter much because Phoebe had never been known for being an early morning person. Shaking her head, Piper started downing the fruit while she reviewed the homework she had rushed through the night before. Her teacher would probably find a million little things to mark off on her assignment, but what else was new? She knew deep inside that her teacher didn't dislike her and she was probably being strict for Pipers own good; somehow that realization never surfaced while she was actually attempting to do the assignments. When she saw her little sister walk into the kitchen she knew that something was up but chose, wisely, not to vocalize her suspicions. "Hey Pheebs, breakfast?"

Phoebe nodded silently and sat down at the kitchen table, her face buried in her bowl of fruit. Quietly Phoebe examined the fruit on her fork before slowly placing it in her mouth. Watching her sister chew was almost agonizing and Piper almost chanted, 'swallow, swallow, swallow' waiting for her sister to finish. Sometimes her sister could really get on her nerves so Piper focused on her own eating and managed to avoid thinking about Phoebe for the rest of the morning. As soon as Prue was out of the shower and dressed she expected Phoebe to be ready to go. Much to her surprise her baby sister was waiting in the car for her. It was relieving yet very suspicious and Piper shrugged when Prue threw her a 'what's up with her?' look.

"Bye, see you at noon!" Prue shouted after her little sister who rushed through the front door of the training center. The most Phoebe had said during the entire car ride had been a short 'I'm ready' when Prue got into the car. Prue shook her head, and looked out the closed window. It would rain; there was no question about it. The heavy cloud coverage mixed with the sweet smell in the air meant rain, and probably some lightning and thunder along with it. She only hoped there would be no blackouts. It would throw off her entire day.

As soon as Mark pulled up in his truck, Piper raced out the door to meet him. He smoothly inserted the cassette tape into the player and before Piper knew it she was receiving a romantic kiss to Bryan Adams' '(Everything I do) I do it for you'. She smiled as he kissed down her neck, leaning over as the intensity of the kissing increased. Suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder and she jerked back, slamming her body into the door of the truck. Mark looked surprised for an instant then started laughing when he realized Piper was afraid of the thunder. "It's just thunder babe." He said.

"Yah, but it's just really loud thunder. It's gonna rain, we better just get to class or they'll send out a search party or something." Piper said glumly. She had wanted to spend more time with him before they got to the school and had to go their separate ways, but she was well aware that San Francisco on a rainy day could have much more then just massive traffic issues and she didn't want to run the risk of being in a car accident somewhere on the other side of the city. Prue would kill her if she didn't die in the accident. Blowing the stray hairs out of her face Piper slouched down in the seat and looked out the window as the big fat drops of rain began falling from the sky. When she was young, after her mom had died, her Grams always told her to watch for her mom in the rain. She always said, 'You can see your Mother in every drop of rain that falls from the sky.' Looking into the rain she knew that her mom wasn't there. It was just something her Grams had told her to make her feel better when she was especially lonely. She still wished, way deep down to see her mom and grams again, but knew that it just wasn't possible. The only way to see them again was to look inside herself and remember, because they were gone forever.

Prue slumped over on the high counter at the book store. The rain was coming down in sheets so everyone was running for shelter in the bookstore. That meant muddy tracks all along the floor that she got to clean up. It also meant, sadly that there would be a whole lot of books to put back in order on the shelves. Even though people were wandering around the store, nobody was really buying anything. Prue checked the clock and wished that something would happen to empty out the store. She had to take her lunch break and pick up Phoebe exactly at 11:30, and with her luck the streets would be crawling with accidents so it would take her an extra half hour each way. Prue tapped her pen on the desk and looked around at all the people meandering, 'At least they're not bugging me' she thought.

"Excuse me?" a male voice interrupted her thoughts and Prue dreaded having to write up a receipt the old way. Because of the storm credit cards couldn't be used and it had also managed to screw up the cash register. This was certainly not her day and she knew that as bad as it was, it could and probably would get worse. "Excuse me, miss?"

"What?" Prue looked up into the handsome brown eyes of a tall dark haired man, "I mean… can I help you?"

"Prue, right? Front row, Econ 1, Professor Allen?" he seemed a little timid and shy, but he smiled at her and his dimple shone. Prue had noticed him in class before. He always seemed to have the right answers.

"Hi, yah, it's… you are?" Prue stumbled over the words.

"Ethan. Ethan Pante, uh, could I buy this?" Prue nodded dreamily and barely understood what he said to her. Looking down she noticed he was holding a book. With a sigh she tried to scan it, and then realized that the scanner wasn't working properly either. Prue's cheeks flushed pink as she looked at the cute guy in front of her. She wrote out a long receipt and took her time, not wanting to miss a chance to speak more to Ethan. As she was writing out the receipt the lights flickered while lightning flashed in the sky followed by a big boom of thunder. "So, is that all?"

Prue gave a weak sigh, fluttering her eyelashes. She was still somewhere in a daydream. "All? Yah… I guess…" as he started to walk away she snapped out of it, "No! Wait! You have to pay!"

Smiling, Ethan walked back towards the counter and put his bag on top of the glossy surface. With a half smile he said, "I was wondering when you were going to notice that."

"Yah, I guess I missed that, didn't I?" Prue nearly melted into a puddle of puppy love as she sheepishly took the money from his hand. He had exact change, what could be more perfect?

Phoebe peeled off the bar and landed with a thump. She was putting her heart and soul into hitting her Tkatchev but just couldn't catch the bar correctly. She wasn't hurt as much as she was furious with herself for not being able to perform the skill correctly. Her coach walked over to her calmly, but she knew he was just as upset about it as she was. She adjusted her grips and walked over to the chalk bowl. Gary, her coach walked over to talk to her about what she was doing wrong. Tears gathered at Phoebe's eyes, but she refused to let them slip past her lashes.

"Alright, now just do what we talked about Phoebe. You're letting go of the bar much too early so you're not going to get the height you need. No we've been over this before, let's get it right." He was firm, but not mean, though to an outsider it could sound like he was being overly harsh. Phoebe locked eyes with her coach and nodded her head. She remounted the bar but quickly found herself back on the mats, face down. This time there was no calm approach. She had blown it once again and she knew that it had been her last chance to fix the skill. She had to be outside in five minutes to or Prue would have to get out of the car in the rain and walk into the gym. Prue wasn't a big fan of gymnastics so the less time she spent in the gym the better, Phoebe always thought.


	3. Stormy Journey

Piper tapped her pencil slowly. She couldn't believe how boring her teacher was. Didn't they have laws against child abuse in California? Couldn't monotonous egocentric dinosaurs teaching an already heinously boring subject like Trig be considered enough of a threat to the welfare of the students that they had to be sent back to teacher school? Piper looked out the window and saw only fat drops of rain pelting down from the sky and bouncing off the concrete outdoors. Her thoughts were elsewhere when she was called on to solve a problem on the board, and the teacher had to repeat herself three times. Gloomily Piper walked up to the chalkboard and began working on the problem that she was supposed to have finished earlier in the class. Grumbling to herself about how unfair it was the teacher always picked on her, Piper began scribbling down the equation to find the correct answer. When the lightning struck, Piper jumped in the air and faced her classmates. They began to giggle and Piper frowned and turned back to the problem, her face hot with shame for being shocked by something so stupid. Only kids were afraid of storms. She glared at the problem and wished it would disappear. She wished that some magic power would come out of her brain and erase the whole day. At least, back to the beginning when Mark was coming to pick her up. That hadn't been so bad. It had actually been pretty good.

"Miss Holleewall! Get your mind back on the board!" her teachers words pierced her heart and the echoes of her classmates laughing didn't help any. Why couldn't the woman at least remember her name?

"Yes Ms. Hartley," she replied. 'More like heartless' she thought to herself as she continued working on the math problem. When she was finally done she went to the back of the room and sat in her chair quietly with her head down. She couldn't believe she'd just done that.

"Would you care to explain how you came up with that answer?" her teacher asked sharply.

"Uh… okay," Piper answered. She looked at the board. Had she done the problem wrong? It seemed right to her. After explaining away the problem she sat back in her seat and tried to imagine a way out of the class. There had to be something happening somewhere in the world so she wouldn't have to sit another second in that torturous class. When the bell rang she was already halfway out of her seat so that she could escape to the nearest exit and get to her locker where she was supposed to meet Phoebe. She hoped Phoebe would be on time for once, but knew that the likelihood of that happening decreased from slim to none because of the storm. Every minute she had to wait for Phoebe cut into the precious few she had with Mark in the cafeteria. Piper crossed her arms and slouched against her locker, waiting for her sister.

Ethan and Prue sat in the bookstore gazing into each others eyes while they shared a cookie that had fallen on the floor in the bookstore. They had gotten to know each other a little better, at least Prue had gotten to know Ethan a little better. Most of Prue's responses consisted of giggles and nods. She couldn't even manage to pinch herself to make sure the moment was real for fear of waking up, alone and miserable. Whenever she could think of something to say, it usually came out all wrong, so she'd stopped trying. Prue knew that when the moment struck her she'd be able to respond intelligently, at least she hoped so.

"This is the most interesting lunch I've had in a long time, Prue." Ethan said. He'd had a crush on her for quite awhile, but didn't know how to talk to her. Despite his good looks, he wasn't very experienced in the world of dating. Sheepishly he said, "I bet you have lunch with cute guys all the time."

"No, I hardly ever even get to eat lunch," she responded. "Especially Fridays, my schedule's so hectic…"

Ethan smiled and looked confused, "What's different about today?"

"What do you mean?" she asked dreamily. He could probably tell her she was on fire and she wouldn't know what he was saying.

"Well, today's Friday and you're eating lunch. What changed?" he asked, hoping to find out that he was the reason she'd changed her schedule.

Prue shook her head and giggled, then dropped the piece of cookie she was eating and nearly shouted in his face, "WHAT? It's Friday? Are you kidding me? Shoot! I have to leave. I have to… what time is it?"

Phoebe had been waiting outside of the gym under the small awning for 10 minutes. She was still frustrated with herself that her workout hadn't gone well and didn't have any clue where her older sister was. She looked up into the sky and saw the rain clouds calm down for a moment. She knew they wouldn't stay that way, but hoped they'd at least be partially clear for awhile. Checking her watch again, 5 more minutes had passed. She was supposed to meet Piper at her locker right then. Usually she had a little bit of time to go to her own locker before she had to meet Piper, but that wasn't going to happen. With a slight growl, Phoebe decided it wasn't worth waiting for Prue and headed out from under the awning. Just as she stepped off the mat and onto the sidewalk a loud boom sounded and she was almost instantly drenched. A stray branch had tipped the awning ever so slightly and covered her with rain water. Shaking her head, Phoebe knew it couldn't possibly get worse then it already was and walked down the sidewalk as the rain began pounding down on her. Muttering to herself she wondered where Prue was, knowing that she was probably stuck in traffic, but imagining that Prue was in fact taking a vacation so she wouldn't have to pick her up. As she walked down the slippery streets, Phoebe was glad for her balancing skills.

Looking up at the sky as she waited for the crosswalk signal she saw she was completely alone on the street and shouted, "Couldn't you have at least let me remember my jacket?" to the heavens and anyone else who could be listening. Almost in an answer to her cries the sky flashed with lightning and thunder roared as more rain poured down on her. "Yah thanks," she absently responded.

By the time she arrived at the school, the lunch period was almost over and she was soaked to the bone. Phoebe accepted the fact that Piper was probably fuming and wouldn't notice that she was freezing, so with her head down she walked across the parking lot towards the paved ramp that lead up to the school buildings. The glass door swung open and Phoebe headed into the building, lockers surrounding her and students looking wide-eyed at the small girl who was sloshing her way down the hall.

Piper looked towards the chaos that seemed to be coming her way down the cold hallway. She saw a tiny figure hunched over, arms crossed and head down walking towards her. It could only be one person. "Phoebe where the heck…" she paused, looking at the pathetic figure as she came closer, shivering as the rain soaked clothes stuck to her skin and the chilly halls slightly warmed by an antiquated heating system only made it worse. "Oh my G-d sweetie, what happened to you?"

"Prue," Phoebe said curtly before sneezing violently and rubbing her nose. Piper grimaced and gave her baby sister a tissue before covering Phoebe with her jacket and ushering her to the Nurse's Office. As they walked through the crowded halls, Piper was able to get just what Prue had, or hadn't, done to Phoebe. She was almost more worried about her older sister then her baby sister. It wasn't like Prue to forget things, she knew that there had to be something wrong and got a sick feeling in her stomach.

'At least this will give me a good excuse to miss 5th period.' She muttered to herself as she opened the door to the Nurse's Office and sad down with her baby sister held close. Phoebe's body was shaking, but her head felt warm. Could she really get a fever that quickly, or was it the hood from the jacket that was making Phoebe's face seem so hot? Piper's brow furrowed as she looked around, waiting for the Nurse to notice them.


	4. We're Closed

Prue raced towards the gym, ignoring the rain that poured down onto the car and almost missing a red light. She came to a screeching halt in front of the doors that lead into the gym and pulled her umbrella out. The umbrella shot open and she flung herself out of the car and hurdled over puddles towards the waiting door. Running inside, she left the umbrella sitting with her purse next to the door and searched for Phoebe. She had to be there. Calling out her name, the entire gym turned towards her and Gary walked over with a concerned look on his face.

"Is something the matter Prue? Phoebe left half an hour ago." He said calmly. Almost too calmly, his tone had always disturbed her, but she decided to ignore it. Finding her sister was much more important.

"She what?" Prue was more furious then concerned now as she raced back out towards her car. Grabbing her umbrella and purse she didn't even bother to open it back up as she jumped over puddles and slammed the car door shut. Sitting in the driver's seat she took in a deep breath and tried to think where Phoebe would go. "Damnit! Damnit, damnit, damnit!" she yelled as she took off for the school. It was the only place she could think to look, and at the very least she could rescue Piper who would be stuck at the High School without a car if she didn't get there soon.

Phoebe lay on the bed quiet and motionless with the white thermometer sticking out of her mouth. The long winding cord draped down to the floor and across the room to where the nurse was standing holding the box readout and speaking to Piper who had now taken it upon herself to 'fake sick' to get out of her last classes. Gazing off into space Phoebe began thinking about where it had all gone wrong, and knew that somehow it would all end up being her fault, even though technically it wasn't her fault it had started raining. How could she possibly be asked to control the weather? If she'd gotten to school late she'd be in trouble with the school which would have pissed Prue off because there could be a conference. It would also piss Piper off because Piper wouldn't have gotten the car keys and would have been standing at her locker waiting for them and missed her whole lunch. Now, she got to school late anyways and would probably be yelled at for getting soaked to the skin by the rain that just so happened to fall on her head. It wasn't like she invited the rain over for a BYOB party, it just showed up! How was she going to explain this to Prue? She had a meet in a week that she couldn't miss and had the feeling that Prue might not forgive her by then. As hard as she tried to maintain her far off look, she couldn't help being drawn back to the real world by the conversation Piper was having with the Nurse.

"All right Piper, where does it hurt then?" Nurse Darcy Galen asked skeptically. There were many students who came to her office looking for a reason not to go back to class and Piper Halliwell was certainly one of them. Nurse Galen glanced back over her shoulder to see how Phoebe was doing. Phoebe was in her office frequently, as her sister had been, though usually it was to ice down a sore knee. The two sisters were very different from each other in too many ways to count, but somehow she had the feeling that it wouldn't be an easy pack up and go for either of them.

"It's sort of an all over sort of thing?" Piper said with a desperate look on her face. "Like one of those pains that sort of moves, you know, around your body and you just never know where it's going to stop sort of pains?"

Nurse Galen raised a single eyebrow in Piper's direction. She wasn't about to argue with a 17 year old over something as idiotic as non-existent symptoms. Beeping interrupted her thoughts and she turned her attention back to the white box that she held in her hands. Reading the number carefully she walked over to Phoebe, shaking her head and gently pulling the covered probe out of the girl's mouth and ejecting the sanitary cover into the waste can. "Okay kiddo, you've got a little bit of a temp going but if you don't get into some warm clothes soon that could develop into a cold over the next couple days. The Administration is trying to reach your sister, so you hang tight. As for you Piper…"

"I know, I know back to class." She interrupted as she picked up her backpack and headed for the door, giving her sister a hug before she left. As she reached for the handle, the door swung open and a furious looking Prue appeared before her. Piper stumbled backwards into a chair from the shock of seeing her older sister look so angry and looked towards Phoebe as if to say, 'hide'.

Nurse Galen quickly reacted to the shocked Piper, checking to make sure she was okay, before approaching the shadowy figure standing in the doorway. When she recognized it was the girls' older sister, she understood Piper's reaction. Prue had been a very serious student during her time at the school and was probably not very happy with both of her sisters being out of class. Little did she know, it went much deeper then that. "Prudence, why don't you come in and get Phoebe's things. She'll need to go home and get some warm clothes on. Piper was complaining of aches, it's up to you if you'd like to take her home as well."

Prue glared down at Phoebe who was lying stunned on the bed, eyes wide with fear. In a cold steady voice she said, "Hello Nurse Galen, nice to see you again," without taking her eyes off the youngest, still shivering from the days activities. Silently Prue picked up Phoebe's backpack and handed it to her baby sister. She then turned and dropped the keys to the car into Piper's lap without a word to her younger sisters, and walked over to the Administrations Office to Sign-Out both of them. Her head was pounding from the stress that she'd been under and it was all she could do to keep herself together while she signed them out. Her face showed an unnaturally calm and collected expression; she had grown used to suppressing her anger around others, not wanting them to see any imperfection on her part.

Phoebe looked up at Piper as they walked towards the Jeep. It was still thundering out and the rain was coming down in sheets, almost as heavy as before. The sisters got in the car, Piper sat in the back with Phoebe to keep her warm, rubbing the arms of her shivering sister. When she saw Prue walking towards the car with narrowed eyes holding an umbrella firmly in place over her head, Piper wasn't sure what to think and simply hopped in the drivers' seat, assuming she'd be dropping Prue off at work. The ride to work was so silent, when the exhausted 14 year old fell asleep, it sounded like a chainsaw buzzing, instead of the sweet breathing that could usually make both older sisters smile. Piper had never seen Prue hold back her anger for so long and hoped that she would not explode on some poor soul who happened to get on her bad side at the bookstore. Before she pulled away from the curb, Piper checked back on her sleeping sister before putting her foot to the floor and taking off down the streets of San Francisco towards the manor. She wasn't rushing as much for Phoebe's sake, but for her own. Mark would be wondering where she'd gone and the first place he'd go looking for her was the Manor. As soon as they got home, Piper rushed Phoebe up the stairs to get into a warm bath and changed, while she stared at the message machine, willing it to give her a message from Mark.

There would be no such message waiting for her, and no call came in the next 10 minutes she spent sitting next to the phone, not aware of her little sister's activities. Phoebe had taken a shower instead of a bath, and gotten changed into clothes for a gymnastics workout, rather then warm comfy things that could be worn to laze around the house in. She rushed down the stairs, taking two at a time and hoped that Piper wouldn't put together the pieces of the puzzle until she was already well on her way out the door. "Bye Piper, see you tonight!"

Piper waved goodbye to her little sister not even noticing that she was running out the door. Her head was in the clouds, trying to rescue her heart from the lost feeling it had without seeing or speaking to Mark for so long. Mumbling after her sister, "Bye Phoebe," she looked up and looked around quickly; 'bye?' she thought to herself. Piper ran towards the door, but didn't have very far to go before she found her sister, gripping the handle on the front door so tightly her knuckles were turning color. "Where do you think you're going? You are going right back upstairs, getting into bed and doing your homework because when Prue gets home she is going to kick BOTH of our butts if you aren't on your very best behavior and I really can't deal with that right now!"

Phoebe gathered her composure as she turned to face Piper. She hugged her older sister and then quickly picked up her books and walked up the stairs to her room, knowing it would be a long day. Piper was pleased with herself at first. Maybe someone in the house was finally listening to her. For once she was being treated as some sort of authority figure. Just as the pleasant glow of adrenaline started to wash over Piper's face, all color drained from it. There was no way all that could happen in one day, and the speech she made didn't even come close to one of Prue's rants. Something was going on with Phoebe, she just wasn't sure what it was, or when she would find out. Piper looked out the window in the parlor at the rain as lightning shot through the sky, remembering the day's events. She knew something was going to happen, she could feel it deep down inside, but had no idea how to prepare for it or even what 'it' was.

Prue sat at the bookstore counter, pushing back the day's events to the recesses of her mind. The chambers that existed there were full of pain and anger, times when she knew she couldn't express her emotions had been stored there, and again she had to store her emotions there. She was the one who had been charged with keeping a family together. She was lucky to be going to college while her baby sister was dreaming of the Olympics. She hadn't been to many of Phoebe's meets in recent years, but knew that her sister probably didn't have much of a shot at the Olympic Team. How could she? She was just Phoebe. Just little, baby Phoebe; little, baby, stupid Phoebe. Stupid Phoebe, Phoebe who had walked through the pouring rain to school just to piss her off and ruin her day, walked through rain because she was stupid. Stupid Phoebe who thought that gymnastics was the 'be all end all' and her Coach… Gary… was _the one_ who would get her there. Gary was stupid too, they were all stupid for not realizing that there was such a thing as the real world and she had to live in it. Piper was no help, always siding with Phoebe when they had a fight. How could Piper possibly be any help? She was just a teenager. They were all just teenagers!

Prue ran her fingers through her hair, trying to push the thoughts out of her mind. She knew that she had to stay in control because there was nobody else to control things for her anymore. She knew that it would all have to be dealt with later and made a decision that she wouldn't think about it another minute until she got home. Looking up as someone approached her with a book they wished to buy she put on a happy face and wrote them out a receipt. The girl was a regular customer, usually popping in on Fridays to purchase some paper or other supplies, but Prue was in no mood to talk and the girl could see this even through the smile that had been plastered on the face of the dark-haired girl. Smiling, the girl walked out into the rain, accompanied by a streak of lightning. Mumbling to herself Prue said in a light whisper, 'Just 3 more hours and I'm gone,' and continued studying. When two loud claps of thunder (interrupted by a flash of lightning) took the lights out, she boldly announced to everyone who was in the store, "We're closed!"


	5. Washing Machine

Phoebe slowly twisted the bottle of white pills open. Why was it that all containers that were advertised to be 'child-proof' were adult-proof as well? After a struggle she managed to get the bottle open with a grunt and pills flew through the air, landing in a mess all over the hardwood floors of her bedroom. Phoebe bent down and began picking up each individual pill from the floor. It was a time consuming task, but she knew it must be done. Licking her dry lips, she glanced at the glass of water sitting on her nightstand. She should have something to drink, but wanted to wait so she could gulp a pill (or three) down at the same time. As she picked up each individual pill, her brain was working overtime to block out what she was really thinking about. Prue… how was she going to explain to Prue what had happened earlier? How was she going to make Prue understand that she didn't want to walk through the rain to school? If it was her choice to walk through the pouring rain, she sure as hell wouldn't have gone to school. Phoebe sighed and continued on with the monotonous task. There couldn't be a single one left on the floor. What would Piper say if she saw them? There was no telling what would happen if Prue were to walk in and find her scouring the floor for small, white tablets. Phoebe hurried with the task and after finishing, she poured 3 into the palm of her hand. She picked up the water glass and hesitated for a moment, almost wishing someone would come bursting through her unlocked door; as sisters sometimes do.

"Pheebs?" Piper knocked on the door while turning the handle and pushing it open. She was annoyed that Mark hadn't called, and lonely for someone to talk to. Moreover she had just received a call from Prue and knew that she would be arriving home soon. The lights in a good part of the city had gone out and Piper was just thankful that the ones at the manor remained unaffected. Almost on cue, the lights flashed and went out on the two girls who stood face to face in the dark room. Phoebe had quickly gulped down something as she was in the process of choking on water when the lights flickered out. "Are you okay sweetie?"

"Yah," she coughed, "I'm fine. I just, the water, wrong tube."

"Oh," Piper said, peering around her younger sister for any sign of mischief. She knew something was going on, she had to find out and that moment seemed to be the only chance she'd get. Walking over to her sister she yanked her by the sleeve and sat on the bed next to her. Looking into her eyes, she could tell Phoebe wanted to say something; her baby sister's big brown eyes were clouded over by something. 'Why don't I pay more attention in Chemistry?' Piper thought to herself as she played with her sister's hair. "So, did you get that Tevcha thing on bars?"

"Tkatchev, Piper, and no I'm still having problems with it." Phoebe paused for a moment before continuing, "You know I really should be working out right now, I have a big meet coming up and I can't screw this up. I have to do well or Nationals isn't even going to happen for me."

"You can miss one day, it's not going to kill you." This was not how she wanted the conversation to go. Already Phoebe was on the defensive and she didn't have a clue what was going on. She felt even more clueless then when she'd walked in. "Pheebs, if something's going on, you can tell me."

"Oh right, so you can tell Prue and she can get mad at me? Besides, there's nothing to tell, I'm doing just fine thanks. I'm just tired okay?" Phoebe couldn't hold the tears back anymore and they cascaded down her pink cheeks. Piper held onto her little sister, as she cried, wanting to know why the tears were coming, but choosing not to pressure her into talking anymore.

"You're okay sweetie, just, just try and relax and I'll go make us some tea, okay?" Piper suggested. Leaving her sister with a stuffed animal, Piper began boiling the water to make some soothing tea for her sister and herself. The house was lit up by candles and flashlights. Piper had never figured out why Grams had so many candles around the house, but accepted it as a tradition and always tried to remember to by an extra one when she went to the store on a cold day. As the water whistled and Piper prepared the tea she heard a loud bang as the front door slammed shut. The wind whistled in along with a cold air and she quickly ran to the front hall, forgetting about the tea entirely. "Prue, she's really upset, please just let her be okay?"

Prue took a deep breath, once again controlling the anger that burned inside her, "Piper, you aren't the one who needs to be punished so why don't you just stay out of it."

"Prue she's 14 and she made a stupid decision today, okay? She's going to suffer enough consequences from missing gymnastics tonight and if she gets a cold it's not like she's going to be able to train then!" Piper knew that Prue was about to explode and hoped that she'd find somewhere else to blow up. Her sister had a bad temper, that's all there was to it. While she didn't want to be on the receiving end, she knew it would destroy Phoebe to be pulled apart by Prue after the day she'd had. Quieting her tone she said, "There's tea in the kitchen, why don't you go have a cup and I'll check on her, okay?"

Prue stormed past her sister and into the kitchen. She didn't feel like drinking tea, she felt like throwing something through a window but knew that she couldn't lose it like that. Grabbing a flashlight from off the counter she headed into the basement, slamming the door behind her. As soon as she'd reached the bottom of the stairs she kicked the washing machine with all her might. It hurt her foot so she took the hard plastic flashlight and slammed it against the metal washing machine until there was a dent forming in it. All the while she screamed profanities. When she felt better she marched back up the stairs and into the kitchen where Piper was waiting, having heard most of what went on. Shooting Piper an, 'oh like you care' look she grabbed a cup of tea and headed towards the television to relax away into TV Land. Somehow life didn't seem to suck as much when she was watching TV.

Phoebe was sleeping soundly when Piper walked down the stairs and stood hesitantly on the landing, holding onto the baluster after a lengthy phone conversation with Mark. The power had come back on in the midst of Prue's venting and she was glad to receive a call from him shortly thereafter. However long they spoke on the phone, it didn't make up for the fact that she wouldn't be able to see him all weekend; it hadn't been a choice. Her sisters needed her to mediate, and while she would miss spending time with him, she knew that he would find a nice way to surprise her when they saw each other again Monday. He was always doing such thoughtful things… shaking herself out of the thought she looked at Prue who sat with a pillow curled under her arms focusing in on her show. She knew Prue was just trying to protect them, but also knew that her sister seemed almost incapable of admitting she was wrong. It wasn't something that bothered her so much when she was little, she simply accepted that her big sister would boss her around and that was the way life was. Now that she was older she knew the difference. Piper cautiously walked over to where Prue was sitting and began quietly playing with her older sister's hair.

Prue grabbed Piper's hand and kissed it, then tugged her over to the couch and gave her a hug. "I know you're just trying to be helpful Piper, I do, it's just sometimes it feels like I have to fight both of you just to get things done."

"Prue, I love you, and Phoebe loves you. We're your sisters and we're not going to stop loving you just because you tried to beat thecrap out of the dryer… but there has got to be a better way to deal with all this." Piper said as she snuggled into Prue. The storm was far from over and it was cold inside the tremendous old home.

Prue snorted, "Shows what you know… it was the washing machine."

"Oh my G-d you are so immature Prue! Who cares if it was the washer or the dryer! I was trying to make a point!" she said with a smile on her face. Looking around the room for popcorn she was unimpressed by the ¾ eaten bowl that sat on the coffee table. "I'm going to make some more so we can talk, okay?"

"Sounds good to me..." Prue replied, knowing it was going to be a long talk. Somehow the talks that required popcorn always seemed to get messy and while Prue wasn't sure she was emotionally ready to talk, she knew that Piper was and she had to be ready when Piper got back. As an afterthought she added, "Thanks Piper." and scolded herself for not having said it sooner.

"Do you think she knows that we sit up nights worrying about her?" Piper asked her big sister as she popped a few pieces into her mouth. "I mean, it seems like she's so oblivious to people around her sometimes, but then other times it's like she can tell what's going to happen even before it happens."

"Yah well obviously she missed the weather report today. I just don't understand why she would have walked all the way to school in the rain. I wasn't that late and she knows better then to walk anywhere alone in San Francisco, much less in the pouring rain." Prue sighed. She didn't want to talk about the days events. It only brought up anger, anger which came mostly from fear. If something had happened to Phoebe while she was wandering the streets… she wouldn't continue the thought and listened as Piper discussed her Mark saga. The girl could chat about her boyfriend endlessly. It was sweet to see her so in lust with a guy, her shy little sister who never was very good with socializing was dating a rather attractive guy and seemed so happy when he was around.

"… so we're not going to do anything this weekend, but he's going to go to Phoebe's meet next weekend which I mean… I didn't even have to beg him to go or anything; he agreed the first time I asked. Prue you just don't know what you're missing. It's so amazing to have someone you totally connect with. I wish you had time for a boyfriend. I know you're really stressed, and you're still not over Andy, but you should try and find someone." Piper babbled on.

"For your information," Prue interrupted. "I am over Andy. There is nothing to not be over okay, we're over and I'm fine with that. He's the one who moved away and that's okay with me."

"Okay Prue, I can see how this is you being over him." Piper joked.

"And, I found a guy today." Prue smirked. "He is so, ugh, his name is Ethan and wow he's smart and funny and, well I think he's funny. We talked for like an hour today while I was at work. He's in my Econ class, Piper he is so amazingly cute I mean we're talking the crème de la crème of guys here. He has these eyes that just… I could have talked to him all day. I almost did, I mean we had a cookie for lunch and it was like I was melting Piper, seriously melting..."

Piper sat, dazed, listening to Prue describe the man she'd met. Still in the back of her mind, something wasn't adding up. Almost as if she'd pressed the total button on an adding machine the events of the day began making more sense. Shoving the popcorn at her older sister Piper jumped off the couch and could feel her blood pressure rise. Her heart was racing as she spoke, "Wait, wait, wait, so you met this guy today at the Bookstore? Today? The same day that our little sister walked through the pouring rain to school? That today? Today, the day that you wanted to rip Phoebe a new one because she didn't wait for you at the gym? You left her to freeze so that you could eat a broken cookie with some guy you just met? I can't believe you! I can't believe I took your side in any of this and even though about punishing Phoebe for what she did!"

Piper began walking in a hurried pace towards the stairs. All she wanted to do was hold her baby sister and comfort her. She was almost positive the girl was still sound asleep, but was stopped when Prue shouted after her, "Piper it wasn't like that! You don't even know!"

"No, you know what I know Prue? I know that Phoebe was shaking so bad my coat couldn't even warm her up. I know that she had to miss gymnastics, her favorite thing in the world. And I know that I cannot talk to you right now." She said firmly as she ran up the stairs. Phoebe was, as she'd expected, still asleep and Piper lay under the covers with her sister and wrapped her arms around the tiny figure, letting the tears silently fall.


	6. Tomorrow

Phoebe woke up to find herself wrapped up in her sister's arms. Groggy and cold she fumbled her way towards the chair that her robe rested on. Grabbing the glass off of her nightstand and the bottle of pills, she made her way to the bathroom. The door creaked shut behind her and she stared at her reflection in the mirror. It took her eyes awhile to adjust to the light, when they did she smiled at herself before fussing with her hair. The container opened more easily then it had earlier in the day and she gulped down 4 pills. Her stomach began to rumble and she realized she hadn't eaten lunch or dinner. Without Piper or Prue to make her something, she was almost helpless in the kitchen, but snuck down the stairs just the same. She hadn't brought a flashlight and knew better then to turn on any lights in the house. Her sisters were rather light sleepers and she didn't want to get a lecture on what she should or shouldn't be doing that late at night. As if to punish her, she missed the second to last step and skidded down to the floor. Muttering to herself, Phoebe continued her hunt for food and walked towards the kitchen, pausing for only a moment to see if anyone was coming. After a few minutes of searching, she settled for a cup of applesauce. Somehow nothing seemed to look very good to her for a midnight snack. The applesauce was bland and didn't have a great texture. At once Phoebe regretted putting even a spoonful to her lips and dumped it in the sink. She would worry about a mess later. Looking back in the fridge, she grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the stairs. With a sigh she trudged back up the old wooden staircase and into her room. Remembering Piper was in the bed she tried to be extra quiet so as not to wake her, but like every planned quiet always does, it went wrong and Phoebe tripped over the chair that she'd so carefully avoided earlier. She fell to the floor with a yelp and looked up to see Piper sitting in the chair facing her, a calm expression on her face.

"Phoebe, I think we need to talk about something." She said slowly and clearly. Piper had obviously been up for some time, and Phoebe could tell she was trying very hard to contain her emotions. Piper held the small bottle of white pills out to her sister and said, "Care to explain?"

Phoebe looked up from the floor and back down, hanging her head in shame, "I needed them."

"That's not an explanation Phoebe." Piper threw the bottle at Phoebe's feet and watched as it bounced off the floor and back down, the pills rattling around inside. "What were you thinking?"

Phoebe shrugged and brought her legs in front of her, checking the knee she'd fallen on. What could she possibly say to Piper? "Sorry."

"Sorry? Phoebe that's not good enough. We've been through this before and you can't…" she began.

"I know, I can't do this I can't do that, but I can't do anything without them okay? I need them Piper!" she shouted back at her sister before cupping her hand over her mouth. Prue was bound to wake up with loud tones being used.

Piper whispered loudly, "Phoebe I don't know what's going through your head sometimes, you know that?"

"Okay, I'm sorry!" she repeated.

"How long?" Piper asked; a threatening tone in her voice as she tried to choke back tears.

"I don't know." She replied.

"How long." Piper repeated louder and clearer. This time it wasn't a question, it was a command. She'd had just about enough of being pushed over by her sisters and wasn't going to let Phoebe win this battle.

"I don't know!" she said in a hoarse whisper as her voice cracked and the tears began to flow, "A couple days, a week… maybe a month, or two."

"Which one is it Phoebe? Days, weeks, months? I'm not kidding!" Piper was angry and not at all shocked by how deep her voice got when she spoke. After a long pause Piper continued, "Answer me Phoebe. How long has it been?"

"Since October," she sniffed out. Tears cascaded down her cheeks but she received no comforting hugs from her sister, only an angry stare. Piper's face was full of concern, but that concern was expressed in anger and Phoebe knew that it was time for the truth. She couldn't hide it anymore, but wished she could speak to someone who was less angry. Phoebe couldn't imagine who that would be, and hesitantly she pushed herself up from the floor. Piper didn't seem to be in the snuggling mood. "I wanted to tell you…" she started.

"You did? Oh that's funny because I don't remember seeing, 'talk to Phoebe' on my social calendar! When was it you wanted to tell us? What were you just going to hide this for the rest of your life and hope you didn't kill yourself in the meantime?" She wanted to continue being angry, but it was hard to look at the shivering figure of her baby sister without feeling sympathy towards her. "You know Prue has to be told."

The bawling started when Prue's name was mentioned and in an instant Piper was holding her sister in a hug. Rocking her back and forth she tucked Phoebe in and climbed into the bed next to her. "Do we have to tell Prue?" she asked through hiccups of emotion.

"Tomorrow," Piper answered, holding her tightly, "we'll tell her tomorrow."


	7. Fine

Morning came only too quickly for the Halliwell bunch. Prue and Piper were not yet on speaking terms and Piper stood silently, chopping fruit for that morning's breakfast. She had slept, holding onto Phoebe tightly, afraid that if she let go she'd lose her sister forever. She had not forgiven Prue for the previous days actions, but knew that they needed to talk about what was going on with Phoebe. She felt so betrayed by both of her sisters and cooking was one way she could feel in control. Grams taught her most of the recipes she used and it was almost like being able to communicate with Grams again when she cooked. Sometimes that was all she needed to be able to clear her head, and relieve some of her heartache.

Prue walked into the kitchen silently, having had a fitful rest. She was angry at both of her sisters, but more herself. She was angry that Phoebe had walked from the gym, angry that Piper had yelled at her and angry at herself that she had been the cause of it. Even more then that, she was angry that she was being blamed for all of it because she was happy. It felt as if nobody in the family was allowed to experience joy since Grams' death and having Ethan taken away from her because of two little sisters who needed caring for made her feel selfish, which in turn brought up massive guilt; from this guilt sprouted the anger she felt towards her sisters. She looked at her younger sister, ever the middle child, with her head into her work, chopping pieces of fruit. Piper was obviously still upset from their conversation the other night and it would take a lot more then breakfast to fix things between them. Getting her nerve up she walked over to the cutting board and picked up a slice of green apple, popping it into her mouth and chewing for awhile before clearing her throat and saying, "Why don't you go spend the day with Mark? I can take Phoebe to the gym and I should study all day anyways."

As much as Piper wanted to spend the day with her boyfriend, she knew that Phoebe needed to have her there for moral support when Prue found out what was going on and going to the gym another day was only going to make things worse on her. "No, I'll stay."

"For gosh sakes Piper I'm trying to be nice here!" Prue exploded. Taking a deep breath she calmed down and said, "I'm sorry, I was just trying to let you have a day off. I know you haven't gotten to hang out with your boyfriend lately and I thought you'd like to go be with him today."

"Yah, I know Prue, you wanted me out of the house along with Phoebe so you could screw Ethan, I got the message." Piper snapped back without thinking.

"What did you just say to me?" Prue demanded.

Piper stood shocked with the knife in her hand. Dropping it onto the cutting board she tore off her apron and ran out the back door, grabbing her jacket and an umbrella as she went. Mark only lived a couple blocks away so it would be a short walk to get there. Knocking on the front door of the house she wondered if it was a mistake, but was relieved to be welcomed with open arms by Mark's mother who took her into the living room to talk while his father went to his room to announce her arrival.

Phoebe remained in bed for an extra half hour, thinking about the previous day, how everything had gone wrong from her. Piper and Prue were probably waiting for her downstairs to explain what had happened, and then the other thing. Pulling herself deeper under the covers she stayed in a tent of warmth for a few minutes before getting out of the bed and into the shower. She hoped that she would be able to make a silent exit and get to the gym as quickly as possible. There was a meet coming up and nothing was going to stop her from reaching her dreams. Phoebe felt a little tired as she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen, looking for her sisters, but ignored it; she hadn't slept well with all the drama bubbling up around her. When she saw Prue stabbing her fruit with a knife and sticking it between her teeth without the manners to cut it, she knew it was not the day to have the talk with her. Phoebe didn't see Piper anywhere and wondered if she'd left early to study or go on a date. "I'm taking the bus to practice…"

"Fine," the eldest replied, mumbling. "Don't do anything stupid on your way home."

"I heard that, Prudence!" Phoebe said on her way out, adding, "You stupid jerk."

"I heard **that** Phoebe!" Prue yelled after her baby sister, but it was too late, the door had slammed shut behind her. Prue was no longer hungry and took it upon herself to do some housework. She didn't know how to get out of the mess she was in with her sisters, but knew that she had the whole day to do it. Phoebe had taken off for the gym, again in the rain, but Prue couldn't gather the strength to check and see if she'd actually remembered to bring an umbrella, or at least a jacket. She would have the whole day to think about how to get things back to the way they were, her boss had called and told her to stay home. Parts of the campus were flooded and it had gotten into the bookstore so there was no point in trying to sell soggy textbooks to the students who wouldn't come in on such a miserable day anyways. Prue knew she had to gain control over the situation and over her emotions and went to her room, wondering how she could accomplish that very task. The rain poured down outside but inside it was warm and she sat in a chair staring out the window, trying to count the raindrops that splashed onto the window. It was nearly impossible, but a good way to relax. Whispering into the rain she prayed, "Mom, what am I supposed to do? I just want to be normal and be happy. I just want to be 19 years old… I'm not ready to take care of them… I'm just not ready."

By the time Phoebe had gotten to the gym it was half past the hour she was supposed to have gotten there and she stood at the doors of the bus, waiting for them to swing open so she could run as fast as possible inside and change for workout. Gary wouldn't be thrilled that they would be missing half an hour of work and Phoebe wasn't too thrilled either. Like many of the other Elite's in the country, the gym was like her second home and she had a great deal of junk stored up in her locker along with the necessities. Pulling out a slightly larger bottle she gulped down 4 pills before checking her reflection, fixing her ponytail, and running out to join her coach. She could tell instantly that he was in a bad mood and hung her head as he lectured her about her commitments. She mumbled an 'I'm sorry' and went to warm up with the other girls.

Looking around, the clock seemed to be moving slower then her brain as she finished her warm up and headed to the vault. It felt like she'd been running around for half the day, when really she'd only been working out for half an hour. Phoebe approached her vaulting in a very simple way, with as much power as she could muster. After doing some blocks, Gary ordered her to begin working on her competition vaults. She had missed the previous days afternoon session and had a lot of ground to make up. Phoebe knew that she could throw her vault as good as anybody when her head wasn't in the clouds and tried to keep herself focused. On her first vault, she landed low. The second and third ended with the same result, sitting on her bottom at the other side of the vault. Throwing her fists down, she pushed herself off the mats and heard a crack. Her heart skipped a beat, but when she stood up, everything felt fine so she went back to the top of the runway to go again. Gary was displeased with how slowly she got up and her general lack of concentration so he sent her to run 50 laps while he worked with other 'more motivated' gymnasts. The pills were wearing off, she could feel it, and Phoebe glanced over to the locker-room every lap, wishing she could go inside and get more. She knew in her head that it hadn't been long enough, but felt like she needed them. When Gary called her over to work Beam she was happy that the laps were over, but felt pulled towards the locker-room as she walked towards the Beams.

"Come on Phoebe, let's go. I want 10 acro series' now." Gary demanded.

Phoebe silently pulled herself onto the beam; she looked tiny standing on it. Centering herself, she took a few deep breaths before completing a single skill and falling off the beam to the mats below.

"Don't just sit there all day Phoebe, let's go. Do you think the judges are going to be as patient as I've been with you today?" he commanded her to get up and perform again. He knew that she needed someone to be tough on her or she'd never make it all the way.

Phoebe stood up, but felt a sudden sharp pain her knee and sat back down. Holding her leg, tears sprang to her eyes as she examined the knee that had taken a beating the night before when she'd fallen down the second to last step and tripped over the chair. Looking up, she knew her coach would have no complaining so instead of making excuses she said, with her head down, "I need to go get something first."

"You've got 30 seconds to get whatever you need and get back on this beam or you can leave this gym and not come back until you think you're ready to work." Gary said coldly.

Phoebe hobbled to the locker-room and flung open her locker, dumping 3 of the pills into her hand. After taking them, she sat on the bench and tried to massage her knee. It was sensitive to the touch, but she knew she hadn't torn anything. As gracefully as she could, she went back out to the gym floor and remounted the beam. Her knee was pink and beginning to swell slightly. Phoebe performed her acro series twice before falling off again, this time there would be no getting up. With a swollen and aching knee she'd tried to put less pressure on it as she landed. As a result, she attempted to overcompensate during the fall and slammed into the thick beam with the side of her head. Sliding down to the mats she lay still as her coach rushed to her and shouted across the gym for someone to call the paramedics. She was still breathing, but he couldn't be sure if she'd broken anything, most specifically her neck. He held her steady incase she regained consciousness and tried to get up.


	8. Don't Worry

The phone rang loudly amidst the silent house and Prue grumpily picked it up. When she heard Ethan's voice on the other line she smiled and her entire mood changed. Prue temporarily forgot she'd had a fight with her sisters and agreed to have Ethan over so they could 'study' for the Economics test they had the next week. Prue hopped in the shower and cleaned up before he arrived. She smelled sweet, like freshly cut flowers, and she lead him over to the couch to study.

"So, how about this rain, huh?" she said with a silly smile on her face. Thinking to herself, 'how about this rain? What the hell is wrong with me?', "I mean, you know… we don't really get much…"

She was interrupted when he leaned into her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Stroking her hair back, behind her ear, he held her face softly as they kissed. The phone rang once again and Prue reluctantly pulled away from Ethan whose face was now pink with humility as he put his Econ book on the table and turned to the appropriate chapter. She answered the phone with a rough, "What?"

"Miss Prue Halliwell?" the voice asked.

"Yah, what?" she responded. She wanted to get back to her study date who was now opening his notebook and highlighting the notes he'd taken.

"This is Marybeth Lansing from…"

"I know who you are, I paid her tuition for this month, and I'm a little busy right now." She said too loudly.

"Your sister, Phoebe is being taken to the hospital; she's had a bad fall on the beam. You need to meet her there." The voice instructed.

"Okay, I understand." Prue said quietly. The clock read 11:03am. Looking at Ethan, she saw him wave with a heart melting smile and went over to him; sitting next to him as they reviewed their Economics chapters. He smelled good, and looked better; Prue knew that Phoebe wasn't going anywhere and it wasn't like anything bad could happen while she was on her way to the hospital, so she let it float out of her mind and read the book as Ethan talked, a simple expression on her face. At 11:06am, Piper came home and slammed the door behind her, her day with Mark having been cut short because his buddies wanted to play football in the mud. Prue glanced up towards Piper, but still said nothing. She added a few comments here and there to the conversation with Ethan until finally at 11:16am she got up and said, "Sorry Ethan, I have to go. I think my little sister might need me."

Prue showed him to the door and casually asked Piper to come for a drive with her. Against her better judgment, Piper said yes and the two began driving a familiar route.

"Prue, where are we going?" Piper asked suspiciously. Her sister had been acting strange since she'd gotten home, and while she hadn't forgotten their fight, she wondered if there was something she wasn't aware of. "Prue…"

"Oh, Phoebe was taken to the hospital. Didn't I tell you?" Prue said calmly. Piper felt her heart begin to pound. She should have been more insistent with Phoebe about stopping. She should have forced her to speak to Prue the night before.

"When? When did she get taken? What happened Prue? Were you there? Why were you at home?" Piper melted into a teary mess as Prue drove.

"The gym called, I'm sure she'll be fine." Prue said simply. Then added, "I told her not to do anything stupid."

When they arrived at the hospital, Prue pulled up to the curb at the emergency entrance and stopped the car, not putting it in park or saying a word, she unbuckled Piper's seatbelt gave her sister a push. With anger and confusion in her eyes, she got out of the car and watched as Prue drove away. Arms crossed, she ran inside and over to the admitting desk. "Phoebe Halliwell?" she inquired.

"Have a seat, the doctor will be out to see you as soon as she can." The man replied.

Piper let out a low grunt and spun around to go to find a seat. The ugly old chairs weren't anything appealing so instead she paced around in front of the magazine racks. If she'd had her glasses with her, she'd pick up a magazine and try to find something interesting to read, but as she didn't realize she was going to go somewhere that she'd need them she was stuck pacing. Her mind couldn't process the fact that her baby sister was in the hospital, and that her big sister was having a major freak out. As she paced back and forth, she watched the floor, it was clean at least, and she looked at the marbled pattern on the cheap squares that were obviously put there because they were easy to clean and not for any aesthetic effect. She came toe-to-toe with a pair of size 6 feet, which were covered by clogs. Looking up from the clogs she saw blue scrubs lead up to a kind face. The woman was small, about Piper's height, and had straightened brown hair, about down to her shoulders, that had obviously been tied back at some point during the day as there was a slight crimp where the band had been.

"Piper?" the woman asked kindly. When Piper nodded her head, the tears beginning to flow down her cheeks she continued, "I'm Dr. Goldstein. Your sister's been asking to see you, I'll take you to her if you'd like."

Piper nodded her head, wiping the tears with her hands and accepting a tissue from the doctor and following her back towards the room that Phoebe was in. It was a rather empty room, and the curtain next to Phoebe's bed had not been drawn as there were no other patients sharing the room. Phoebe was hooked up to a couple monitors, and had a child's hospital gown on. It had cartoon type characters in the primary colors scattered all over it. Her knee was in a dark blue and white immobilizer, the dark circles under her eyes showed plainly in the clear light.

"Can you believe they gave me a kid's one?" she said sarcastically, trying to humor the older sister who looked like she would break into a million pieces at any second. "Plus I'm hooked up to all these machines! I mean I fell off the beam, I didn't have a heart attack!"

"Oh Phoebe!" Piper cried as she hugged her baby sister as tightly as she could. She didn't ever want to let go of her sister, but after thinking about it she quickly pulled back and said, "What happened?"

Dr. Goldstein could see that the two needed a minute and gave Piper the last of the information before she left, "She'll be able to go home tomorrow, we want to keep her overnight for observation. I wouldn't worry though; you seem to have a pretty tough sister."

"Thank you doctor," Piper replied, not taking her eyes off Phoebe for a second. "So are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you? We are in a hospital you know and they could fix whatever I do to you." She said jokingly.

"Okay well I was on beam and I just fell off. Pretty interesting story, huh?" Phoebe replied. Seeing the look in Piper's eyes, she knew her shortened version of the events wasn't going to cut it. Hoping that she could delay telling exactly what had happened, or at least not have to say it twice she asked, "Where's Prue?"

Piper sank back in a chair and began sobbing. Somehow she had ended up as the go-between again, and she was going to have to tell Phoebe that her older sister didn't care enough about her to visit her in the hospital. How did you tell that to a 14 year old? "She's… she's"

Phoebe's eyes had grown large by this point and she already knew what Piper was going to say. Softly she whispered, "She's not coming, is she?" before allowing a few tears to run down her cheeks, the first since she'd fallen from the beam.


	9. Threats

**A/N - this song is "just a little girl" by amy studt. i don't own it, but it's an awesome song.**

_sometimes i feel,_

_you're not listening,_

_sometimes i feel,_

_you don't understand._

_but i think i've,_

_got the answer,_

_already know what,_

_you're going to say,_

'_cause i'm just a little girl you see,_

_but there's a hell of a lot more to me,_

_don't ever underestimate what i can do,_

_don't ever tell how me i'm meant to be._

_you say i'm just a little girl,_

_just a little girl_

_how can i compare?_

_what do i know?_

_what have i got to share?_

_but there's nothing in this world,_

_nothing in this world,_

_that can hold me down._

_can't you hear me?_

_don't you understand?_

_that i want to be myself,_

_want to be the girl,_

_i want to be the one,_

_that you can rely on._

_how i wish that you could see all there is of me,_

_how i long to hear,_

_that you take me for who i am._

'_cause i'm just a little girl you see,_

_but there's a hell of a lot more to me,_

_don't ever underestimate what i can do,_

_don't ever tell how me i'm meant to be._

'_cause i'm just a little girl you see,_

_but there's a hell of a lot more to me,_

_don't ever underestimate what i can do,_

_don't ever tell how me i'm meant to be._

_sometimes i feel you're not listening,_

_sometimes i feel you don't understand._

'_cause i'm just a little girl you see,_

_but there's a hell of a lot more to me,_

_don't ever underestimate what i can do,_

_don't ever tell how me i'm meant to be._

'_cause i'm just a little girl you see,_

_but there's a hell of a lot more to me,_

_don't ever underestimate what i can do,_

_don't ever tell how me i'm meant to be._

Prue drove around the city for an hour, trying to get her thoughts straight. She knew she had to go back, she had to be the mature responsible one, and she had to figure out a way to live for her sisters first and have her life second. Maybe it was a Scorpio thing. She kidded herself, but couldn't bring herself to laugh about it. Sitting at a red light she looked over and saw that the next building was the large, concrete, warehouse shaped building that Phoebe's gym was in. Making up her mind that Piper could deal with Phoebe for awhile longer she got up her courage and parked the car on the steep slippery slope. She set the emergency brake with such force, her body jerked back in the seat and she had to take a minute to fix her hair. Trying to calm her nerves, she picked up her purse and walked into the gym. There were little bodies flying every which way and it was almost dizzying to Prue as she didn't really know what she was looking at. As soon as she spotted Gary, she walked over, fists clenched and by her sides.

"We need to talk." She spat out rudely.

"Hello Prue, can it wait? I'm right in the middle of a private lesson." Gary asked with a condescending smile on his face. Prue seemed to be the most inactive, yet overly concerned "parent" he had at the gym.

"No, I don't think so." She said, raising her voice, "Unless you'd like me to get into it right here, in front of all these kids and coaches? I'd be happy to discuss my concerns with the fact that my baby sister is…"

"Fine Prue, we can talk," he said. Instructing one of the assistant coaches to work with the girl until he got back. He showed Prue into his office. It was covered in trophies and awards, as well as pictures with gymnasts, of both national and international fame. "Look, Phoebe had a bad fall, and if that's what you're here to talk to me about…"

"Phoebe had a bad fall? Gee, you think?" Prue was furious. "I don't give a shit about what happened after she fell. I want to know WHY she fell in the first place. I have never seen my sister miss on beam."

"You've never seen your sister miss on beam because you've never shown up and watched a training session. You hardly show up to her meets." Gary was in command of the conversation. This wasn't at all how Prue had planned it. "Half the time she's on the Podium with tears in her eyes because her big sister didn't show up when she should be thrilled with a gold medal."

"And what about the other half of the time?" Prue demanded.

"The other half of the time she doesn't win, and she cries in the locker room. She cries on my shoulder, because she doesn't have her big sister there to talk to or support her when she doesn't do well." Gary said, glaring at her.

"You disgust me. I swear if my sister didn't love gymnastics so much…" she began.

"Don't finish that sentence Prue. You wouldn't want your sister to be asked to leave the gym because you threatened her coach, would you?" he asked. He was right, and she knew it. Getting asked to leave would break Phoebe's heart, and Prue seemed to be doing enough of that without anyone else's help.

"Don't think this is over." She said coldly as she grabbed her purse and stormed out the door. She sat in the car, breathing hard. The confrontation hadn't gone as she'd wanted it, she knew something was going on there, but she just didn't know what. After catching her breath, she felt almost ready to be the person she was required to be. Starting up the car, she drove towards the hospital, determined not to screw the situation up any more than she already had… wondering if her sisters would ever really understand.


	10. Complications

When Prue arrived at the hospital, Phoebe was sitting comfortably, talking to Piper about what the latest news with Mark was. It was just small talk, really nothing too important, but it seemed to pass the time. When Piper caught a glimpse of Prue and saw the fresh tears in her eyes she got up and silently hugged her sister. She knew that Prue had begun to heal herself. Phoebe was not as easily forgiving and lay on the bed, looking out the window as Prue pulled up a chair. The nurse had come in and given her some vicodin to help ease the pain in Phoebe's knee. She knew that it wasn't a serious injury, being a gymnast for so many years she could judge what sort of injury it was. It felt like she'd sprained it, but she'd certainly done worse to herself in the past and competed through it.

"Hey Prue, I was going to go get a snack or something, you want?" Piper asked, getting up from the chair. She hoped her absence would force her two sisters to communicate with each other and eliminate the absolute silence that seemed to have been imposed on the room since Prue's arrival. Prue shook her head and handed Piper a couple dollars, then swung her feet over the arm of the chair Piper had been sitting in and stared at Phoebe. Piper gave Phoebe a kiss on the head and whispered, 'talk to her' before heading towards the door. "Okay, I'm just going to be in the cafeteria."

"We'll be fine Piper," Prue sighed, encouraging her sister to leave. "So, um, I'm sorry about this morning; not giving you a ride and all."

Phoebe turned her head towards Prue and said with an annoyed expression, "Whatever, it's not like I asked for a ride Prue."

"I didn't say you asked Phoebe. I'm just trying to apologize for not offering." Prue retorted.

"Whatever." Phoebe mumbled as she turned towards the window again. It was starting to rain again; sometimes it felt like it would never stop raining, and other times she was glad to have the rain out. At that moment she was just glad it gave her something to do other than talk to Prue.

"Look, Phoebe…" Prue started, "Sometimes I don't do the right thing you know? It's like… like remember when Grams told me I couldn't go to that sleepover because it was boy/girl but I went anyways? That was such a stupid thing to do and I regretted every minute of it but…"

"That was a long time ago Prue. I was only 9, I don't really remember it." Phoebe said, looking towards the door, hoping Piper would come in.

"My point was that I've done stupid things in the past and we've recovered, right? I mean this was another one of those crazy weeks where stuff goes wrong and…" Prue paused; Phoebe wasn't paying attention at all. "Phoebe what the hell are you staring at? Phoebe!"

Phoebe looked back at Prue, sweat beads forming on her forehead and neck. Her eyes were glazed over and her breathing was shallow. The room kept going in and out of focus while her stomach was churning, "Prue…"

In an instant Prue was up pressing the call button and running outside of the room looking for help. "Please, somebody help me!"

When the nurses and doctor arrived Phoebe was barely conscious and Prue was standing behind the professionals, not knowing what else to do. "Please you have to help her. We were just talking… that's all."

"Miss Halliwell, is your sister on any medications?" Dr. Goldstein asked quickly. Phoebe was not responding well to her vocal commands and was completely unable to respond.

"No, no of course not!" Prue shouted back with tears running down her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" the doctor asked, knowing that what they were witnessing could quite possibly be a drug interaction.

"Yes, of course I'm sure! She's just a kid!" Prue responded, crying out once again, "You have to help her."

Prue watched as they wheeled Phoebe out of the room and chased after her for a few paces. She collapsed into a chair, the sobs taking over her body. When she saw Piper walk over to her with a bagel in one hand and Prue's change in the other, she tried to dry her eyes, but it was too late. Piper came to a dead stop and whispered, "What is it?"

"They… they took her, I don't know, she just stopped talking and looked so pale." Prue hiccupped out. "I don't know what's wrong with her."

"Oh my G-d, Prue." Piper dropped her bagel and grabbed Prue's hands. "Oh my G-d Prue, do they know what it is?"

"No, no they don't know, I don't know, I don't know how we're supposed to find out. We were just sitting there talking and… I mean we were arguing… but I don't know. She just went pale and stopped talking… they came in and were asking all kinds of STUPID questions." Prue was starting to babble, "I mean why the hell would they think she was taking drugs, Piper? Why?"

"Oh no," Piper whispered and ran down the hall, searching for her sister and the doctor that was caring for her. She had to fix it, she knew that it was up to her, and began running faster as she thought of all the different things that could be happening to Phoebe. 'Please don't let her die, please don't let her die.' Piper prayed as she rushed on.


	11. Safe

Prue leaned against the wall and allowed herself to collapse silently to the ground. She let one tear slip down her cheek, then another. Soon she was crying and knew that it was an utterly selfish thing to do. She should be with Piper and Phoebe, trying to calm one and heal the other, but how could she when she didn't know what was going on? Holding her head in her hands she did the only thing she could think of, and prayed. She prayed to G-d and to her Grams and Mom for all the strength in the world. Prue didn't know who needed their help the most, so she prayed harder, knowing full well that they could all benefit from a little help from above. When she looked up again, she found that nothing had changed. She didn't know really what she expected, what kind of miracle she wanted, but she'd thought that somehow there would be a sign. The tears fell harder as she realized that there were no signs, she was still crying, on a floor, in a hospital, waiting to see if her baby sister lived or died.

When Piper found the room, she caught a glance of the doctors working tubes into Phoebe's body, and immediately turned away. She didn't have the strongest stomach, but knew that she had to tell them the truth. Forcing herself to turn back, she walked further into the room, her hands trembling. She wasn't sure who she was supposed to talk to or if she was even allowed in the room, but she kept walking until she saw a familiar face in Dr. Goldstein. "She takes Tylenol."

Dr. Goldstein glance to her right and was surprised to find Piper standing there. "What do you mean sweetie?"

"She takes Tylenol." Piper repeated.

"Honey, Tylenol is one of the safest things out there. You can't be in here right now." A nurse said, as she put her hands around Piper's shoulders and tried to lead her out the door.

Breaking free, Piper ran back and said, through tears, "No. She takes it all day long. She goes through bottles a day! She, she's been taking them so much! She doesn't mean to do any harm but she gets hurt and she doesn't want to tell anyone because she knows we'll make her slow down in gymnastics, and this year is the Olympics so she takes Tylenol."

The nurse finally had her way with Piper and escorted her out of the room, while Phoebe was worked on. It was unusual to see Tylenol poisoning, especially in someone Phoebe's age, but it was clear that this was what she was experiencing. Fortunately there would be no serious damage as the doctors worked quickly to give her the antidote (NAC). 24 hours later she was on her way home, Phoebe's most severe injury being a swollen knee and some loose ligaments as a result of the falls she'd experienced. She hadn't noticed it at the time, but her kneecap had gone through a mild dislocation, and popped back in by itself. The doctors told her that she was to keep the brace on her leg for at least a week, and to try and stay off her leg as much as possible. Knowing Phoebe, that wasn't a realistic possibility.

A soft knock came on the door and quietly it was pushed open. Walking silently into the room, she saw the small girl asleep on the bed. Her eyes red from crying; her knee being held gingerly by the black brace. "Pheebs, it's time for lunch."

Rolling her head towards the sound of the voice, Phoebe looked up at her older sister. "Where's Prue?" she asked.

"She's at the pharmacy, she'll be back soon." Piper assured her sister.

"Is she still mad?"

"Mad? No, she's not mad sweetie, she cares about you a lot. You know Prue though, she's always got to be in control, can't trust me with the car." She tried to laugh, but all that came out was a nervous chuckle. "Your coach called… everyone at the gym hopes you're feeling better soon."

"Piper, I have to go back to the gym tomorrow." Phoebe said, wondering how her sister would react.

"Pheebs, no, you're hurt. You admitted you've been hurting for weeks. I'm not going to let you screw your body up like that." She protested.

"Piper… if I can't deal with a little pain then I'm never going to make the Olympics. I've been working my whole life for this chance."

"One meet isn't going to make a difference!"

"Yes it will Piper, you just don't understand, how could you possibly understand…" she trailed off as she looked away, wondering how she could possibly convince her sisters that this was what she needed to do. She knew Gary was disappointed in her. She was his prodigy, the one who was going to make it to the Olympics, and even if she didn't have much of a shot to win the big medal, she could certainly help her team to a medal. It was something that they'd promised each other, and it was a promise she wasn't going to break.


	12. Bargains

Authors Note:: "piperhalliwellfanatic" thanks for the review, but I'm not including Paige in this story because while it is AU, I'm trying to keep it as close to "real" as possible. Well, that and... it would screw up the family dynamic too much.

* * *

The next day, Phoebe had shed her brace and was trying to massage down some of the swelling to minimize any possible scar tissue _and_ range of motion issues. It was 6am, and she hobbled down towards the kitchen, where she hoped nobody would be. Usually her sisters were up early on Monday mornings, but she hoped that just once luck would be on her side. As luck would have it, Piper was in the kitchen and heard her uneven footsteps approaching.

"Go back upstairs Phoebe; you're not going to practice this morning. I mean it." Piper said dully, knowing that most likely Phoebe would have some snippy comment coming back at her from her little sister who was under the impression that one week would make a difference.

"Who're you Phoebe'ing?" Prue asked as she walked into the kitchen and gave Piper a little slap.

"Prue? I swear I heard Phoebe come down here like a minute ago." She said jumping up. It was at that moment that they heard the front door click shut. Racing towards the door, Piper flung it open and looked around for her sister. Prue soon joined her and all they could see was an empty street with the occasional neighbor walking their respective dogs. "How can a kid with an injured leg run that fast?"

"I have no idea Piper, but if she's going to kill herself, she might as well just do it now rather than later. Maybe her coach will at least take it somewhat easy on her… considering." Prue replied.

"Considering what?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"Just… forget it Piper." Prue responded to her overly anxious sister. "Hey, you want to go out and grab a croissant before school? I could really use some sugar right now."

"Sure, I guess. Are you sure we shouldn't go after Phoebe?" Piper was worried, not just about Phoebe's health, but about what Prue had hinted at. A confrontation with Phoebe's coach was just not a positive sounding thing.

"Trust me Piper." Prue said as she grabbed her coat, purse and backpack. "She'll be fine."

With that, the two older sisters left and Phoebe let out the breath she'd been trying to hold through their entire conversation. What, were they stupid? Had they really thought that she could run anywhere so soon? She headed towards the window and made sure that they'd gone down the block so she'd have enough time to get out of the house without being seen. Almost on cue, Gary pulled up in front of the house and Phoebe limped out the door and down the steps. She hopped in, ducked down and said, "Okay, go!"

Gary obediently drove down the street as he turned to the young gymnast who had sat up again, and said, "You want to tell me what that was all about back there?"

"My sisters. They didn't want me to go to practice this morning. They just don't understand what it takes to be a champion." Phoebe admitted with a sigh.

"But you know what it takes, don't you Phoebe?" Gary asked. "You know what you need to do to be the best, to be on that team, right?"

"Yes, definitely, I am 100 percent there!" she said with a renewed determination in her voice.

"Well, first thing's first, you're only working bars today." He said as he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Phoebe begin to object. "I mean it, bars only or you're going to have more problems then some loose ligaments. If you want to compete this Saturday you're not doing anything more than bars and conditioning until Thursday. Do we have a deal?"

"I guess," she responded glumly. Then catching the stern look in his eyes she replied again with more certainty, "Yes Gary, of course. Just bars and conditioning until Thursday… with some beam on Wednesday?"

He saw her hopeful smile and chuckled, "If the knee is up to 90 mobility by Wednesday, and I mean it."

"No problem." Phoebe smiled as the drive continued.

"So, you think she'll even show up for school today?" Piper asked as she drank her coffee with one hand on the pastry.

"I hope so," Prue admitted. "She's missed enough class, you know? It's not like we can teach her everything when she gets home because she's never home!"

"Prue, we're never home either." Piper said softly. She didn't want to start any sort of battle, but it was a relevant point and something she'd been thinking about quite a bit since Grams' passing.

"Uh-huh. Get out of the car, Piper." Prue said with a serious look on her face.

"Prue I didn't mean it that way… I mean I know we're all really busy but sometimes…" Piper trailed off as Prue put her hand to her head with an annoyed expression on her face.

"No Piper, I mean get out of the car… we're here." Prue said.

"Oh, right. Sorry." She opened the door, face hidden from her older sister.

"Hey, it's going to be okay you know?" Prue called out after her.

"I know. Love you!" Piper said.

"Yah, me too Piper!" Prue said as she drove away. Piper shook her head, was she ever going to say 'I love you' to anyone?

"Hey babe, I missed you on Sunday." Mark said with a devilish gleam in his eye. "Want to hit the janitor's closet before class?"

"I'd love to but…" she trailed off as he kissed her cheek, breathing softly he kissed further down her neck, "it's not like I'm going to need science in the real world anyways."

"Cool." Mark smiled as he led her into the infamous closet.


	13. I Can Do It

"Okay Phoebe, keep your legs together on those cast to handstands please. And pull up! I want to see you hit that handstand right on top of the low bar." Gary instructed. "All right, now let's see 10 more of those and then I want to get you some physical therapy on that knee."

"Sure coach." Phoebe said as she prepared to remount the bars. She'd been working her compulsory routines the entire morning, something that wouldn't involve too much pounding on her knee as they'd decided to forgo the dismounts for the time being. She muscled her way through 7 routines, they were compulsory for a reason, and that reason was that they'd help the gymnast keep up on her basics. These were the basic skills any gymnast should have and that meant there was no reason why anyone should worry about big complications. It was on her 8th routine that she found a complication when she undershot her overshoot to handstand and slammed her legs into the low bar, landing on the mats below. She lay on the mat for a few seconds, gripping her knee before seeing the look of disappointment in Gary's eyes. "I'm fine coach!"

"Phoebe, I think you've had it for the day. Go get your things together." Gary said sternly.

"I'm fine. I can finish the routine. It's no big deal; really, I just missed the bar a little." Phoebe protested.

"No." he said, looking down at her. She was average for a gymnast, which meant short in the real world, and he was on the taller side for a man. "Now pack your bag, get some physical therapy from Sharon and I don't want to see you in here the rest of the day. Come back tomorrow when you're ready to concentrate."

"But…"

"I said no, Phoebe. Now go; and I don't want to see your sister in here accusing me of things again." Gary said coldly.

Phoebe tried to hold herself together as she limped into the locker room. She was determined not to cry in front of the other gymnasts and coaches. That lasted until she got to the door when a stray tear made its way down her cheek. Physical therapy was painful, she knew to expect that, and the best part about it was her ice down at the end. Hopping gingerly off the table she headed out to the front of the gym where she waited for 5 minutes before realizing that nobody was going to be picking her up. She hadn't told anyone she'd gotten a ride to the gym, so why would they bother doing her the favor of picking her up from the gym? With a sigh, Phoebe began the walk to school, thankful it wasn't raining. As she crossed the street she heard a loud car honk and nearly tripped over the curb. It was Prue.

"Get in the car, Pheebs." She called out the window after catching sight of her sister hobbling up the street.

"Prue I…" she couldn't finish an argument and with a sigh got into the passengers side of the familiar vehicle. She only hoped there wouldn't be any fighting.

"You know Phoebe, I know you think that Gary knows everything, but Piper and I… we know what's best for you." Prue said with a motherly sternness.

"Prue, I know you think you know what's best for me, but this is my life, what I've been working towards like forever. I have to do this or I'll regret it my whole life." Phoebe said, refusing to let any tears flow.

"Phoebe I know it seems important now but…" Prue wasn't sure how much longer she could support Phoebe in her gymnastics, it seemed like no matter what she said she couldn't get it to make sense to her little sister.

"But what Prue? Why can't you understand how important this is to me? Why is it so hard for you to see me happy?" she turned her head away, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and hold her trembling chin steady.

"Phoebe I understand you think it's important but in 10 years where will you be?" she demanded.

"I'll be a college graduate with no loans to pay back, Prue! I'll be a part of gymnastics history! I'll be myself!" Phoebe insisted.

"Phoebe you'll be a broken mess if you don't stop putting your body through this! You don't have what it takes and you have to face it!" Prue screamed.

"Mom thought I did." Phoebe said almost silently.

"What did you say?" Prue asked, knowing that yelling at her was not the ideal way to get her point across.

"Mom," Phoebe repeated with no emotion in her voice. "Mom signed me up for my first class. She thought I could do it."

"Phoebe, mom is dead! Don't you get it? Mom's gone, Grams is gone, and I am not going to let you…"

"You're not going to let me what Prue? Go ahead, say it… you think it's my fault Dad is gone, you think it's my fault Mom and Grams are dead… you just can't stand that I might actually be good at something!" she cried.

"Phoebe, you have to stop before you kill yourself. Look at yourself; you're so afraid of what Gary thinks that you're destroying your body to live up to his expectations! Phoebe you were hospitalized, you OD'd on Tylenol for G-d sakes! I know Gary thinks that…"

"Oh don't even go there Prue." She said coldly, "I know you went to talk to him Prue, he told me."

"Phoebe I was just trying to protect you, I swear." She pleaded with her sister to turn and face her, holding onto her arms and not letting her out of the car. "Phoebe…"

"Just save it Prue, I don't care what you think. I'm going to do this, and you can't stop me." She spoke clearly in a dull tone, and got out of the car, clearly favoring her injured leg as she walked towards the school building.

In a flash Prue screeched through the parking lot circle to the exit, blood boiling. She began to speed out the driveway when she had to stop suddenly and back up to avoid a car that was coming swiftly up the street. Banging her hands on the steering wheel she screamed profanities to the open air before trying to calm herself down so she could safely drive to her afternoon class. She couldn't figure out where the conversation had started going wrong, and didn't know how to make it right.


	14. Pull Over

Piper sat in class, unable to concentrate. She kept wondering where Phoebe was, and if she was at the gym, how she was doing. She knew Prue was going to be angry at the end of the day and if Phoebe had disobeyed her and gone to the gym there would be hell to pay. That and she knew she was going to get into trouble for earning herself a trip to detention after being caught by the Janitor. It was definitely not the way she'd envisioned the last couple weeks leading up to winter break as going. She'd thought they'd have some fun in school, probably a test or two, and maybe she and Mark would find some mistletoe somewhere. She shivered, thinking about what her winter break was going to be like. She'd wanted to go to Tahoe with her friends, well Mark's friends, and go skiing. Being from San Francisco, well the Bay Area in general, she never saw snow unless she actually drove into the mountains to find it. On the extremely rare occasions when there'd been snow in the city, it had been a few flakes which rapidly turned into slush followed by hail or rain. Ironically, they were studying about weather patterns in San Francisco so when her teacher said, "In February, 1887, four unexpected inches of snow fell on downtown San Francisco. An exception that hasn't occurred since, snow in San Francisco is rare, even in San Francisco's coldest months of the year, December and January. Why is that, Piper?"

"Because of the location?" Piper actually knew the answer, daydreaming of Tahoe was sometimes a good thing because it kept her mind on the topic.

"And why is the location important?" he asked.

"Because it's, um, on the Pacific Coast and the ocean stays warmer then land would and the wind blows towards the east so it prevents it from getting cold enough to snow?" Piper said, hoping he would move on to the next person in the class.

"That's right, very good Piper. Jesse, why are the weather patterns on the East Coast different from the ones out here?" he asked.

Piper was relieved to be out of the hot seat and allowed herself to continue doodling until the bell rang. She sighed to herself, happy that at least one class had gone right for her. She walked out of class, not quite sure how she'd be getting home that day, and was surprised to see Phoebe waiting by her locker for her. "You're in so much trouble."

"I know," Phoebe said, reaching into Piper's locker to search for any food.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked, swatting her hands out of the way so she could close her locker and head out to the parking lot. "Do you know how we're getting home today?"

"Nope." Phoebe said, she wasn't feeling especially talkative at that moment. "Do you have any of your lunch left?"

"Nuh-uh." Piper said, scanning the lot for Prue. When she saw the familiar looking car pull up, she walked down the steps towards it asking, "You hungry?"

Phoebe saw the absence of expression on Prue's face and gulped, "Uh, not anymore."

Piper had noticed what Phoebe was staring at and before she got into the car said, "Good answer, Pheebs."

"Piper," Prue said coldly, "would you tell Phoebe that we're not going to be taking her to the gym today."

"Piper," Phoebe responded instantly, "would you tell Prue that I don't care because I can just do conditioning at home."

"Piper," Prue began.

"Prue, Phoebe, would you BOTH please just grow up?" Piper shouted. "We're not little kids anymore, this is ridiculous now just get over it and talk to each other!"

"Fine." They said in unison.

"Thank you." Piper said, starting up the car. There was no way she was letting Prue drive with how pissed off she was, plus she wanted to go and get something to eat, hoping that a little meal out would solve at least some of their problems.

"Piper, where are you going?" Prue asked, looking out her window. "Piper! I have to get to work."

"You have an hour before your shift starts Prue, that's plenty of time." She responded calmly, refusing to be dragged into a fight with either of her sisters.

"Yeah, come on Piper, I'm tired. Let's just go home, okay?" Phoebe whined from the back seat. It wasn't that she was tired so much as tired of sitting in the car with Prue and trying to deal with the fallout from the events of the past few days, and years.

"Hey, both of you shut up right now or I swear I'm going to drive this car into the bay." Piper said, annoyed that her sisters were refusing to cooperate with her. 'At least they're agreeing on something for once.' She thought. The group sat in silence for the next few minutes, nobody sure what to say. Small talk never seemed to work in the family, always growing into some deeper issue; but sometimes it seemed like that was the only thing they had to say to each other.

"Phoebe, I'm sorry for what I said earlier." Prue said through clenched teeth. It sounded far from a real apology, but it was at least a step in the right direction.

"Piper, can we please go home now?" Phoebe asked, seemingly ignoring Prue's apology.

"Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed, "I said we're going out and that means we're going out. Now why don't you just apologize to Prue for whatever you said earlier so we can at least pretend to be a happy family."

"But…" Phoebe looked out the window with tears in her eyes. "Piper, please I just want to go home, okay?"

"Look Phoebe, I really am sorry for saying that stuff about mom, I'm sure she would have been proud of you for taking your gymnastics this far." Prue said, trying to get some kind of a reaction out of Phoebe. She'd have preferred a reciprocating statement of apology, but would have settled for even a 'Bite Me'.

"Piper, please can we go home." Phoebe begged, trying to hold back the tears that would begin cascading down her cheeks at any moment.

"Phoebe we're almost there, besides you're the one who said she was hungry when we got out of school today." Piper scolded. "Can't you just try to get along with us?"

"Prue I…" she wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to accept the apology or give one of her own to the older sister who had ripped her heart to pieces earlier in the day. Nothing mattered at that moment as she closed and reopened her eyes, trying to focus on something… on anything.

"You what Phoebe?" Piper coaxed. She was going to get an apology out of Phoebe even if it meant telling her what to say.

"Piper, stop the car!" Phoebe shouted.

"Do what? Phoebe we're in the middle of traffic!" Piper exclaimed, her attention thrown from the road to the back seat as Phoebe called out again with more urgency.

"Piper, pull over… stop the car now, I gotta get out!" she cried.

Quickly maneuvering the car over to the sidewalk the best she could, she heard a door being thrown open before she'd even stopped and the next thing she knew Phoebe was hugging a trashcan. Prue hopped out of the car after her and grabbed her hair up, pulling it away from her face and the disgusting trashcan which had certainly seen more than one drunk in its day.

"Are you okay Phoebe?" Prue asked as Phoebe appeared to have finished.

"No…" was the only word she could get out as she bent over again. That time was less out of necessity, but from the smell which had hit her, alcohol, food and urine. Those smells coupled with the flies that were around did not make one feel much better. When she'd finally finished she was surprised to find that Prue was there with a napkin and a bottle of water which had surely been from the dinner Prue had packed. "Thanks."

"No problem." Prue said, giving her sister a little hug, which jostled her back and forth a bit.

"Um, Prue I appreciate the sentiment but…" Phoebe trailed off.

"Right, sorry." Prue said as she closed the back door behind Phoebe before hopping in the front seat with an ashen looking Piper.

"I'm so sorry Phoebe. Was this why you wanted to go home?" she asked as she began to look for a way back onto the crowded street.

"It's okay Piper." Then with only a slight hesitation she added, "I'm sorry too Prue."

"It's fine Phoebe, we'll work it out later, okay?" Prue said as she sat back in her seat, checking her watch. "Piper could you possibly…"

"Take you to work?" Piper finished the sentence. "Yah, I'll turn as soon as we hit 15th."

"Thanks Piper." Prue said as the conversation as well as initial controversy seemed to be coming to a close. Whether that was the end of the fight for the day remained to be seen.


End file.
